SOUTH JERSEY (KYW Newsradio) — Towns throughout New Jersey are working to figure out how many affordable housing units they need to build for the state to reach its goal of 80,000, and some say the current state recommendations are based on old information.
That goal comes from an affordable housing bill passed last year with each town receiving a non-binding recommendation from the state's Department of Community Affairs.
Most towns are not challenging the recommended number of affordable homes to build as part of the legislation. State Sen. Troy Singleton, who has been leading this initiative, says Bordentown and Evesham are among the places making significant progress.
"I think those leaders in those communities have embraced this because they understand that it's more than just to meet a policy goal," said Singleton. "It is something that is really important to create the beautiful mosaic that New Jersey has been and continues to be."
Michael Cerra, executive director of the New Jersey League of Municipalities, says at least 100 towns are asking for an adjustment on their obligations for various reasons. Some towns say they don't have as much buildable land as the DCA previously thought.
"So in some cases they were working off of data that was maybe a few years old and the municipality has data that's more current," explained Cerra, "saying this parcel of land has been built upon, this parcel of land is part of our third round plan."
Those towns, he says, are looking forward to working with the state to meet their obligations. "That there are bumps in the road is not unexpected," Cerra said.
Singleton says it's encouraging to see more than 400 towns making commitments to meet the challenges of affordable housing, though he recognizes affordability is an issue. He says the initiative is designed to tackle it one town at a time.
"It's not a rigid one size fits all approach," he said, "Municipalities have a really distinct voice in shaping how they meet their obligations."
